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Friday, May 25, 2007

Heroines of freedom: Haleh Esfandiari, Malalai Joya, Nilofar Bakhtiar

Haleh Esfandiari

As I reported last week, Haleh Esfandiari, Iranian dissident, is in detention in Iran. Her crime? Interogators say she has taken money from the George Soros Institute, to lead a "soft revolution" in Iran. According to The Guardian,

The accusations against Mrs Esfandiari, whose husband is Jewish, follow claims by the hardline Kayhan newspaper - thought to be close to the Iranian leadership - that she belonged to the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group.

Malalai Joya is a member of parliament in Afghanistan, and a thorn in the side of clerical partiarchy there. She was suspended after describing the atmosphere in the Afghan parliament as "worse than a stable". Apparently, insulting politicians is illegal - although that did not stop MPs throwing water bottles at her across the floor last year and threatening to rape her, after she described some as warlords.